EVANSTON, Ill.- Michigan State field hockey traveled to No. 3 Northwestern to face off against the 2021 national champions and 2022 national runner up. While the Spartans were coming off of a winning weekend beating Indiana 1-0, and Central Michigan 3-0 they fell short to Northwestern.
The Spartans had a strong start, ending the first quarter tied 0-0 with Northwestern, stopping all four of Northwestern’s corner attempts. On Northwestern’s 5th corner sophomore defender Maja Zivojnovic found the back of the net giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead, 1 minute and 36 seconds into the 2nd quarter.
While the Spartans would hold the Wildcats 1-0 going into half time, it was not representative of the game. Northwestern out shot Michigan State 17-4, and controlled the ball majority of the first half, tiring out the Spartan defense.
The Wildcats exploited the tired Spartan defense in the 3rd quarter, scoring three times. The first of the three came only 2 minutes and 38 seconds into the second half from a quick shot at the top of the circle by graduate student Peyton Halsey. Freshman midfielder/forward Ella Kokinis scored the second goal at the 5:46 mark in the third quarter with a rebound shot lifted over Spartan redshirt freshman goalie Cecily Charles, who was still down after diving to save the initial shot from Halsey. Freshman forward Olivia Bent-Cole rounded out the 3rd quarter scoring, using the man up advantage Northwestern was given after Michigan State sophomore Gracie Burns was given a yellow card.
Michigan State went into the fourth quarter with a new sense of energy, and held off the Wildcats until the 5:01 mark when Zivojnoic got her second goal of the night, again from a corner. With only 22 seconds left in the game Northwestern got another corner. This time freshman defender/midfielder Ilse Tromp added to the score with a powerful flick coming from the top of the circle.
Despite the 6-0 score, Charles had a new career high in saves with 19. The Spartans look to keep their heads up and remain focused for the upcoming Big 10 play. Their record moves to 3-6. The Spartans will play again this Sunday, Oct. 1 in Iowa City against the No. 1 ranked Hawkeyes.
